Edelbrock has new "Clevor" heads/intake for the Windsor block to make a "Boss 351". There is an engine build article in the September Car Craft magazine which makes a 425 hp. Also available for the 302.
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
No offense to anybody, but the CHI heads are far superior to anything Edelbrock makes.
The only reason Edelbrock gets all the publicicty is that they have a tremendous marketing budget to push those heads which are strictly middle of the road. 425 HP from a Cleveland/Clevor is very easy to obtain.
The CHI head that has dominated every Engine Masters competition that it participated in. CHI headed Clevors regularly break the 600hp mark without any modification, so if you only want 400hp I guess the Edelbrock head should be just fine.
Sorry to rant, but it just seems like a mediocre product is getting the spotlight vs a product that truly raised the bar as to what kind of power could be obtained in a street motor.
The only reason Edelbrock gets all the publicicty is that they have a tremendous marketing budget to push those heads which are strictly middle of the road. 425 HP from a Cleveland/Clevor is very easy to obtain.
The CHI head that has dominated every Engine Masters competition that it participated in. CHI headed Clevors regularly break the 600hp mark without any modification, so if you only want 400hp I guess the Edelbrock head should be just fine.
Sorry to rant, but it just seems like a mediocre product is getting the spotlight vs a product that truly raised the bar as to what kind of power could be obtained in a street motor.
I guess it depends on what your after. If you are looking for best power out of the box the CHI's are great. If you are going to go porting them right out of the box its hard to say which will come out on top as the finished product depends more on the person doing the machining than the starting product. I have no experience with CHI's however I do have a set of Victor jr's on my windsor. I am blown away by how much metal can be removed and how much the ports can be reshaped. I think Edelbrock expects much of their stuff to be redone by engine builders after the fact. Anyhow just my thoughts.
Blaine
Blaine
Ok let me get this straight.
CHI's that make power right out of the box without additional porting, that have ports optimized by hours and hours of research, and are proven to make power,
or
Edelbrock heads that you are saying need to be ported to make power. So either the owner of the heads or their machinist will now have to spend an undetermined number of hours and maybe get the port optimized?
What is more cost effective?
Before I had my Clevor built I read every small block Ford engine build published within a period of two years. The CHI's dominated the Engine Masters competition every time they competed. Finally they had to change the rules to give some other heads a chance at winning. That should speak volumes. It is very easy to build a 600+hp 408 inch Clevor with stock out of the box CHI heads. I wonder how much porting you would have to invest in the Edelbrock castings to make them perform equally. My guess would be many, many hours.
All Edelbrock seems to offer is marketing muscle.
CHI's that make power right out of the box without additional porting, that have ports optimized by hours and hours of research, and are proven to make power,
or
Edelbrock heads that you are saying need to be ported to make power. So either the owner of the heads or their machinist will now have to spend an undetermined number of hours and maybe get the port optimized?
What is more cost effective?
Before I had my Clevor built I read every small block Ford engine build published within a period of two years. The CHI's dominated the Engine Masters competition every time they competed. Finally they had to change the rules to give some other heads a chance at winning. That should speak volumes. It is very easy to build a 600+hp 408 inch Clevor with stock out of the box CHI heads. I wonder how much porting you would have to invest in the Edelbrock castings to make them perform equally. My guess would be many, many hours.
All Edelbrock seems to offer is marketing muscle.
I never said the CHI heads were not good. I did say it all depends on what you are after. Eventually people will want power levels that will be higher than a stock CHI will flow. In that case porting will be neccesary. I doubt there is a head line in existence that has never had port work done to it. I am not siding with any company. I just feel bashing a company because the "out of the box" performance figures are not equal may be hasty. I also feel that basing a heads quality and performance on an engine buildup challenge may not be the most accurate guage of quality. I dont even need to say there are a lot more factors to engine hp and torque than heads. Engine builders will certainly have preferred equipment that matches the other parts they are using but once custom work starts its anyone's game. Heck it even says on the CHI site some guys modified the ports in the heads. Once agian I am not even remotely saying CHI's are not good (and they may very well be better than Edelbrock) just that it all depends on what you are after at the end.
Blaine
Blaine
Dennis' opening remark was about a magazine article about building Street Boss 302 & clevor motors using 2 new Edelbrock Performer RPM intakes that allow Ford guys to bolt the Edelbrock 351C 2V heads on 8.2 & 9.5 deck Windsor blocks.
I think this is bitchen news for guys wanting to build "Street Boss" 302's and Clevors, because prior to this building these engines meant paying big bucks for a used 20 year old B&A Performance manifold if you could find one.
_____________________________________________
The CHI head Chris has referred to is their 3V head.
The Edelbrock heads are 2V heads.
This is an Apples & Oranges comparison.
The only fair comparison would be the CHI 2V head and the Edelbrock head.
I personally would like to see somebody build a max effort motor using Vic's heads to see what they're capable of. The iron 2V heads are good for 500 bhp after porting & a set of larger intake valves. I would think Vic's heads have greater potential. For instance, the CHI & AFD 2V heads are 600 bhp heads.
There are no "bad" heads in the Cleveland hobby, the worst heads, cast in 1970, are capable of supporting 500 bhp.
___________________________________________
cowboy from hell
I think this is bitchen news for guys wanting to build "Street Boss" 302's and Clevors, because prior to this building these engines meant paying big bucks for a used 20 year old B&A Performance manifold if you could find one.
_____________________________________________
The CHI head Chris has referred to is their 3V head.
The Edelbrock heads are 2V heads.
This is an Apples & Oranges comparison.
The only fair comparison would be the CHI 2V head and the Edelbrock head.
I personally would like to see somebody build a max effort motor using Vic's heads to see what they're capable of. The iron 2V heads are good for 500 bhp after porting & a set of larger intake valves. I would think Vic's heads have greater potential. For instance, the CHI & AFD 2V heads are 600 bhp heads.
There are no "bad" heads in the Cleveland hobby, the worst heads, cast in 1970, are capable of supporting 500 bhp.
___________________________________________
cowboy from hell
IT MOSTLY depends on if you have 30k to spend on a motor ... anyone with that kind of money can get 700 hp with everything right out of the box ... everyday of the week. Most of us have a budget. I will guarantee Edelbrock has done their market research and found 90% of the cleavor builds will need a set of middle of the road heads at a budgetary price.
Most people have a budget and feel where will I need 700 hp for the street.
The other 5 % of the people buy parts on a search for a good deal with a specific horsepower range in mind ( example we dont need a block for 2000 hp when your going to make 650hp.) You can but NEW race parts everywhere at a good deal.
There are CLEVORS making 1400hp with C302B heads.
It all depneds on budget ... and if your going to enter the MASTERS Competition ?
Most people have a budget and feel where will I need 700 hp for the street.
The other 5 % of the people buy parts on a search for a good deal with a specific horsepower range in mind ( example we dont need a block for 2000 hp when your going to make 650hp.) You can but NEW race parts everywhere at a good deal.
There are CLEVORS making 1400hp with C302B heads.
It all depneds on budget ... and if your going to enter the MASTERS Competition ?
Dennis Carrico of DSC motorsports sold me a set of Edelbrock heads that he fitted with 4v size valves and were bowl ported. Completely assembled ready to bolt on with .600 lift springs and guide plates. Modified in this way, they are supposed to flow amounts near to the others. They cost me about $1900 shipped to Hawaii, best bang for the buck that I found!
You can make 500, 600 or over 700HP with the CHI 3V heads right out of the box, without spending $20K. I spent that kind of money to ensure as much as possible that things would not break.
A Dart Iron Eagle block can support 2000HP and in that sense it is overkill. But my thinking was that if I am making only 600HP, it probably won't break and I will only spend the money once. I am a big fan of only spending money once!
Again my objection to the Edelbrock heads is that they get all the publicity because of the shear weight of advertising muscle Edelbrock wields.
If you are a car magazine and Edelbrock is pushing a new head, you ar going to do a positive article on it because almost assuredly they have ads for their products in their pages. Unfortunately there is no unbiased Consumer Reports comparison for aftermarket Cleveland heads.
Based on my experience and two years of researching what is available I would be willing to bet that a side by side comparison would prove that the CHI's make more HP and TQ on identical test mule motors.
If the Edelbrocks require additional porting and other work to make the same power, what is the upside? I just don't see it.
My 427CI Clevor, with the CHI3V, 218cc intake runner heads and 10.5 to 1 compression, had a best dyno pull of 713HP @ 7000rpm and almost 580 ft/lbs tq at 5600rpm. The torque was over 500 ft/lbs around 3200 all the way to the 7000 rpm redline. The heads were not modified or ported other than matching to the intake.
I have not read one article that suggests the Edelbrocks are capable of this level of performance out of the box.
A Dart Iron Eagle block can support 2000HP and in that sense it is overkill. But my thinking was that if I am making only 600HP, it probably won't break and I will only spend the money once. I am a big fan of only spending money once!
Again my objection to the Edelbrock heads is that they get all the publicity because of the shear weight of advertising muscle Edelbrock wields.
If you are a car magazine and Edelbrock is pushing a new head, you ar going to do a positive article on it because almost assuredly they have ads for their products in their pages. Unfortunately there is no unbiased Consumer Reports comparison for aftermarket Cleveland heads.
Based on my experience and two years of researching what is available I would be willing to bet that a side by side comparison would prove that the CHI's make more HP and TQ on identical test mule motors.
If the Edelbrocks require additional porting and other work to make the same power, what is the upside? I just don't see it.
My 427CI Clevor, with the CHI3V, 218cc intake runner heads and 10.5 to 1 compression, had a best dyno pull of 713HP @ 7000rpm and almost 580 ft/lbs tq at 5600rpm. The torque was over 500 ft/lbs around 3200 all the way to the 7000 rpm redline. The heads were not modified or ported other than matching to the intake.
I have not read one article that suggests the Edelbrocks are capable of this level of performance out of the box.
I was not inferring that the Edelbrock heads were any better than CHI's or other brands but were an affordable alternative. I checked into other brands before buying the Edelbrocks but I ended up buying what was within my budget. Even modified and completely built they were affordable. They were for a mild street engine. If I had been building a 700 hp street monster that I wanted to squeeze every bit of HP out of I'd probably have bought the CHI or other brand. My point here is that they are a good buy for the money, an affordable alternative.
quote:Again my objection to the Edelbrock heads is that they get all the publicity because of the shear weight of advertising muscle Edelbrock wields
And selling there heads at a competitive price, for comeptitive perfomance has nothing to do with paying for the advertizing ? I will bet they sell more heads then CHI !
Whats the total cost of a CHI as compared to a Edlebrock head with porting ... both complete ? The Edelbrocks I;ll bet use all std valve train and rockers ... valves off the shelf ?
" My point here is that they are a good buy for the money, an affordable alternative."
I agree 100%.
Premium money doesnt always yield premium performance.
Ron
random thoughts from a wine soaked mind:
(1) The reason why the CHI 3V heads were allowed in the engine masters competition was because they were deemed to be "street heads", not race heads. Had they been deemed race heads, they would not have been allowed. John of CHI has stated publicly that the main reason he developed these heads was because iron 4V heads have always been hard to come by in Australia, and he wanted a head with iron 4V performance. Which brings me to this point, the CHI 3V head DOES NOT out-perform the iron 4V head. Granted, the 3V head will have better throttle response on smaller displacement motors. But the 4V head has always been capable of supporting 750 bhp at 7000 rpm on a 7 liter motor. Now look at the specs on Chris' motor.
(2) As you know, the best way to describe the 3V head is to say it is a 2V size port that has been raised so that the port's roof is the same height as the port roof of a 4V port. This is a generic statement and not 100% accurate because the intake port of each one of CHI's 3V heads is a little bit different. The vast majority of Cleveland intake manifolds made in australia are 2V intake manifolds. Here's a dirty little secret: The 3V heads were designed to be used with 2V intake manifolds! 2V intake manifolds will bolt onto 3V heads and the runners will line up with the ports in the head. This is because the heads were designed a little wider than Ford's iron heads, therefore the VEE is narrower, and the intake manifolds ride higher in the VEE. There will be a small gap between the intake & the block at the valley rail ends, but spacers are available to fill those gaps. The folks at CHI don't advertise this fact as they once did, I think its because they like to sell those $700 intake manifolds. They could sell their heads at cost and still make tons of money with those intake manifolds.
(3) Vic Edelbrock has the money to build any flippin' head he wants to. He could put all the other manufacturers out of business if he wanted. But he doesn't do that. Why? Because down inside Vic is just an ol' hot rodder with a heart of gold. Its why he's such a successful businessman. You can bet your sweet arse that John at CHI & Dave at AFD are GLAD ol' Vic chose to make humble pie 2V heads instead of 3V heads or stuffed port 4V heads, because if he had, he would have put them out of business. Which is probably why Vic chose to make 2V heads, its just the kind of guy he is.
cowboy from hell
(1) The reason why the CHI 3V heads were allowed in the engine masters competition was because they were deemed to be "street heads", not race heads. Had they been deemed race heads, they would not have been allowed. John of CHI has stated publicly that the main reason he developed these heads was because iron 4V heads have always been hard to come by in Australia, and he wanted a head with iron 4V performance. Which brings me to this point, the CHI 3V head DOES NOT out-perform the iron 4V head. Granted, the 3V head will have better throttle response on smaller displacement motors. But the 4V head has always been capable of supporting 750 bhp at 7000 rpm on a 7 liter motor. Now look at the specs on Chris' motor.
(2) As you know, the best way to describe the 3V head is to say it is a 2V size port that has been raised so that the port's roof is the same height as the port roof of a 4V port. This is a generic statement and not 100% accurate because the intake port of each one of CHI's 3V heads is a little bit different. The vast majority of Cleveland intake manifolds made in australia are 2V intake manifolds. Here's a dirty little secret: The 3V heads were designed to be used with 2V intake manifolds! 2V intake manifolds will bolt onto 3V heads and the runners will line up with the ports in the head. This is because the heads were designed a little wider than Ford's iron heads, therefore the VEE is narrower, and the intake manifolds ride higher in the VEE. There will be a small gap between the intake & the block at the valley rail ends, but spacers are available to fill those gaps. The folks at CHI don't advertise this fact as they once did, I think its because they like to sell those $700 intake manifolds. They could sell their heads at cost and still make tons of money with those intake manifolds.
(3) Vic Edelbrock has the money to build any flippin' head he wants to. He could put all the other manufacturers out of business if he wanted. But he doesn't do that. Why? Because down inside Vic is just an ol' hot rodder with a heart of gold. Its why he's such a successful businessman. You can bet your sweet arse that John at CHI & Dave at AFD are GLAD ol' Vic chose to make humble pie 2V heads instead of 3V heads or stuffed port 4V heads, because if he had, he would have put them out of business. Which is probably why Vic chose to make 2V heads, its just the kind of guy he is.
cowboy from hell
Quote
"Whats the total cost of a CHI as compared to a Edlebrock head with porting ... both complete ? The Edelbrocks I;ll bet use all std valve train and rockers ... valves off the shelf ?"
Ron - CHI's come set up to use the standard, off the shelf, valve train components. They come set-up for standard stud mounted rocker arms and are delivered with a set of Ferrea 6000 series stainless steel valves fitted to the heads.
You can get an assembled pair of heads for $2150 or bare for $1575.
The Edelbrock heads are (Per Summit Racing)$969.50 each assembled. That's $1939 for the pair assembled. Of course the valve springs that come with the Edelbrocks may not be right for your selected cam, so you may have to buy all new springs, etc. But if you are just going to throw on the head as is this is not necessary.
Since we seem to favor less exotic builds, I would think that on a standard displacement Cleveland, out of the box, I would be willing bet that a CHI 3V, 185 displacment head will out perform the Edelbrocks right out of the box.
If you favor a bigger displacment motor a set of 225 CHI 3V's are the same price and will support a big displacment stroker motor easily.
If you are willing to invest the money in porting out the Edelbrock head maybe it will outperform the CHI at that point. But then you have destroyed your argument because with the investment in additional machining time the Edelbrock's will have cost you more.
HP for the buck I still believe the CHI's come out way ahead.
"Whats the total cost of a CHI as compared to a Edlebrock head with porting ... both complete ? The Edelbrocks I;ll bet use all std valve train and rockers ... valves off the shelf ?"
Ron - CHI's come set up to use the standard, off the shelf, valve train components. They come set-up for standard stud mounted rocker arms and are delivered with a set of Ferrea 6000 series stainless steel valves fitted to the heads.
You can get an assembled pair of heads for $2150 or bare for $1575.
The Edelbrock heads are (Per Summit Racing)$969.50 each assembled. That's $1939 for the pair assembled. Of course the valve springs that come with the Edelbrocks may not be right for your selected cam, so you may have to buy all new springs, etc. But if you are just going to throw on the head as is this is not necessary.
Since we seem to favor less exotic builds, I would think that on a standard displacement Cleveland, out of the box, I would be willing bet that a CHI 3V, 185 displacment head will out perform the Edelbrocks right out of the box.
If you favor a bigger displacment motor a set of 225 CHI 3V's are the same price and will support a big displacment stroker motor easily.
If you are willing to invest the money in porting out the Edelbrock head maybe it will outperform the CHI at that point. But then you have destroyed your argument because with the investment in additional machining time the Edelbrock's will have cost you more.
HP for the buck I still believe the CHI's come out way ahead.
Summit is always off the shelf expensive. Shops like DSC motorsports will build to your specs cheaper than Summit sells the off the shelf heads. As I said earlier, I paid about $1900 SHIPPED to Hawaii. you keep referring to "out of the box" performance. Since these are shipped with the 4v valves/already ported for that price, I would take a stand to say that these heads should be judged as "out of the box". Should be interesting to see what these modified eddy heads actually flow. I will contact Dennis Carrico to see if he has any flow numbers and post if he does.
This is a fun thread and has some relevance to me as my engine is completely stock and looks like a lump of rust sitting in the back of the car. At minimum it needs to come out of the car, be stripped and repainted - block, heads, pan, covers etc. Of course if the engine is coming out and is going to be disassembled anyway ...
So in theory should a guy like me order up some chi heads and an intake or have my 4V heads professionally ported/rebuilt with a new manifold, or for the sake of keeping it original should I just have it rebuilt stock? From what Cowboy is saying it sounds like one is better off working with the original heads anyway if possible, is that correct?
So in theory should a guy like me order up some chi heads and an intake or have my 4V heads professionally ported/rebuilt with a new manifold, or for the sake of keeping it original should I just have it rebuilt stock? From what Cowboy is saying it sounds like one is better off working with the original heads anyway if possible, is that correct?
there are several good reasons for selecting alloy heads:
(1) Light weight
(2) Tolerate a little more compression
(3) More efficient combustion chamber design (indicated by the fact they need less ignition advance)
(4) Smaller ports / better throttle response (especially with stock displacement motors)
(5) modern "off the shelf" camshaft grinds work better with high velocity ports
(6) cool looks
It really all hinges on the parameters you select for your motor build.
If you would like to explore this, why don't you start a new thread so we don't hijack this one, and we can discuss your options. That's always fun to do.
cowboy from hell
(1) Light weight
(2) Tolerate a little more compression
(3) More efficient combustion chamber design (indicated by the fact they need less ignition advance)
(4) Smaller ports / better throttle response (especially with stock displacement motors)
(5) modern "off the shelf" camshaft grinds work better with high velocity ports
(6) cool looks
It really all hinges on the parameters you select for your motor build.
If you would like to explore this, why don't you start a new thread so we don't hijack this one, and we can discuss your options. That's always fun to do.
cowboy from hell
Chris and your 100% sure that there is a significant difference between the 2 heads in performance ? You dyno'd the 2 and compared ? Lets see some #s ?
I would still bet money that Edlebrock sells a lot more heads then CHIs. Because most people bolts them on slightly modified motors.
Ron
I would still bet money that Edlebrock sells a lot more heads then CHIs. Because most people bolts them on slightly modified motors.
Ron
Dan Jones is working on a dyno project and should be able to answer most of these questions in the future.
Mark
Mark
Ron - That is exactly the point, somebody should take a test mule short block or identical short blocks and test the stock out of the box Edelbrock head/manifold package vs the stock out of the box 3V CHI head/manifold package and have an apples vs apples comparison.
But I am so sure the CHI's would come out ahead I would be willing to bet money on it.
Why? Because the CHI 3V's absolutely have dominated the Engine Masters every time they competed. Not one professional engine builder selected the Edelbrock heads to compete with.
What's up with that? Not exactly a ringing endorsement of the Edelbrock Cleveland heads.
The Edelbrock head is a 190cc intake runner and so the closest comparison would be the CHI 185cc 3V. Edelbrock did not publish flow figures as far as I could see on their website. That might have given some basis for comparison with the CHI 3V.
CHI 3V 185's flow 290cfm at.600 lift, which is not a particularly radical lift these days.
If anybody has flow figures for the Edelbrock head in unmodified form, please chime in.
Flow figures are not the be all and end all, but they do give an indication of performance potential and some basis for comparison.
Who's your daddy now Vic! LOL!
But I am so sure the CHI's would come out ahead I would be willing to bet money on it.
Why? Because the CHI 3V's absolutely have dominated the Engine Masters every time they competed. Not one professional engine builder selected the Edelbrock heads to compete with.
What's up with that? Not exactly a ringing endorsement of the Edelbrock Cleveland heads.
The Edelbrock head is a 190cc intake runner and so the closest comparison would be the CHI 185cc 3V. Edelbrock did not publish flow figures as far as I could see on their website. That might have given some basis for comparison with the CHI 3V.
CHI 3V 185's flow 290cfm at.600 lift, which is not a particularly radical lift these days.
If anybody has flow figures for the Edelbrock head in unmodified form, please chime in.
Flow figures are not the be all and end all, but they do give an indication of performance potential and some basis for comparison.
Who's your daddy now Vic! LOL!
We're still hearing "out of the box comparison". If you can get a modified set of Edelbrock heads from a vendor ready to bolt on for less than stock Edelbrock heads from Summit Racing, I consider that as out of the box new and a deal. I too would like to see the comparison between the heads. My question would be how much difference for how much money? I'm not trying to shoot down CHI or any other brand, I think that they're great products but not all of us have a limitless budgets. That saved $450 difference could buy other toy pieces!
I got this back from Dennis Carrico of DSC Motorsports:
"Hi Dennis. No flow sheets. I do check as I'm in the Heads working, but only keep sheets for the street/strip and max port efforts. There was a big write up in one of the mags on a Clevor engine recently. Your's would compare favorably, I'm sure, to the Ed Heads that were used in the build for that engine.
The AFD and CHI Heads are not street performance items like the ED heads are. They are baseline + race Cylinder Heads as delivered, and have more port and Valve area, AND flow potential than the ED's do.
The ED's you have can be made to do MUCH more than they are right now in your current use. Email me in regards to that.
If you need more to begin with, I offer the BT 3.6" and 4.3" Cleveland Heads as an alternative to the CHI and AFD Heads. The BT's are superior in EVERY way to those heads and will crush them as far as power potential and output."
Let me know if this settles the arguement. Thanks, dennis
"Hi Dennis. No flow sheets. I do check as I'm in the Heads working, but only keep sheets for the street/strip and max port efforts. There was a big write up in one of the mags on a Clevor engine recently. Your's would compare favorably, I'm sure, to the Ed Heads that were used in the build for that engine.
The AFD and CHI Heads are not street performance items like the ED heads are. They are baseline + race Cylinder Heads as delivered, and have more port and Valve area, AND flow potential than the ED's do.
The ED's you have can be made to do MUCH more than they are right now in your current use. Email me in regards to that.
If you need more to begin with, I offer the BT 3.6" and 4.3" Cleveland Heads as an alternative to the CHI and AFD Heads. The BT's are superior in EVERY way to those heads and will crush them as far as power potential and output."
Let me know if this settles the arguement. Thanks, dennis
If I recall correctly the BT's (Blue Thunder?) heads are considered race heads. I believe that is why they were not seen at the Engine Masters competition.
That would not be an apples to apples comparison as the CHI's are considered a street head, as are the Edelbrock's.
So Dennis is your engine builder saying that even after porting the Edelbrocks don't make the same powers as the CHI's?
When you quote him he says the CHI's have more port and valve area and flow potential than the Edelbrock product.
Would that not seem to indicate that they SHOULD be making more power than the Edelbrock product?
That would not be an apples to apples comparison as the CHI's are considered a street head, as are the Edelbrock's.
So Dennis is your engine builder saying that even after porting the Edelbrocks don't make the same powers as the CHI's?
When you quote him he says the CHI's have more port and valve area and flow potential than the Edelbrock product.
Would that not seem to indicate that they SHOULD be making more power than the Edelbrock product?
That's what he's saying. The eddies are made to be milder street heads. If you read the post he says that the CHI's have more valve and port area which indicate more flow potential. Comparing the CHI to the BT is like comparing the Edelbrocks to the CHI, all different designs with different purposes in mind. I never claimed that the Edelbrock made as much or more HP than the CHI's, just that they were a cheaper alternative so you can stop defending your choice. No one has put the HCI's down, they are great heads no doubt. There are many factors to the choices we make for our car (performance, price budget, asthetics etc.) That's what makes this car great, personalization.
Just returned from a vacation in Hawaii (Hilo/Wikiki) and saw this thread. I finally have 6958 running good after a complete rebuild having solved the thermostat/msd problem, may need to jet down the 770 holley a bit. I've got approx 10 miles on my it now. It has ED heads / Airgap manifold. I had a Torqer and 4V stock heads. So far I am happy with the drive ability and performance, the first time I jumped on it a bit the clutch slipped from the power. I adjusted it (from the setting the old motor had) and wow what a ride. I have a crane roller cam with roller rockers and a jomar stud girdle. I would have liked a bit more lift cam but the .600 max limited it. I wanted to keep it close to stock but have a bit more and still keep it dependable and it seems to be ok so far, even after getting things a bit hot when the thermostat stuck closed. I've been through the days of high lift cams and always tinkering with things and just wanted something mild with adjustable rockers and the ED heads so far have fit the bill. Just my 2 cents worth
Stock Edelbrock flow sheets.
http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive_new/mc/heads/pdf/flow_data.pdf
Blaine
http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive_new/mc/heads/pdf/flow_data.pdf
Blaine
Anyone have flow numbers for the Blue Thunders?
What is the part number for the Edelbrock Cleveland heads?
The heads for the cleveland are the Performer RPM #61629. The Performer RPM Clevor heads for the Windsor are #61699.
Blaine
Blaine